The Immortal Mind Remains
by DrWorm
Summary: The dance of the new roommates begins. "Dan mentally reassured himself that he did not want to be, in any way, Herbert West’s friend." Sometimes you shouldn't go searching, as you will not like what you find.


The Immortal Mind Remains

"Ah! Herbert…" Daniel Cain took a deep breath and closed his eyes briefly as he felt his heartbeat thudding against his ribcage as if it hoped to escape. "I'm sorry… you, uh… you startled me." He licked his lips nervously as he stared down at his new housemate. "You snuck up on me."

"Hmm." With his free hand, Herbert West pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose in a classic show of exasperation and superiority. "I found your… cat. In the basement." He lifted a struggling tangle of black fur up beneath Dan's nose. "He's been bothering me."

"Oh, Rufus," Dan sighed and took his cat back from Herbert. Their fingers brushed momentarily within the tufts of Rufus' long fur, and Dan found himself twitching with the realization that the other man's slim, surgeon fingers were very warm; he had subconsciously expected him to be as cold as a cadaver. "Sorry about him, West, he's just a little high spirited… you know… a new house. Lots of new corners… to… explore…" His explanation drifted into silence as he stared into Herbert's blank eyes. "Sorry," he mumbled again, clutching his cat protectively to his chest. There was something unsettling about the way West's calculating scientist's eyes had been roaming over his pet.

"So long as he stays away." The statement sounded less like an ultimatum than it did a threat and when Herbert turned his back, Dan allowed himself a small shudder of revulsion. He stepped quickly aside to allow Herbert to pass him in the narrow hallway, eager to avoid further physical contact with the stranger who had wormed his way into his home. Still, he couldn't resist this new attraction that picked through his possessions, appropriating whatever suited him, and had commandeered his basement without shame, and so followed him through the meager dining room to the kitchen. Herbert ignored him completely as he lifted one of Dan's clean glasses, turned on the tap, and tested the water with his fingertips. He leaned against the stainless steel countertop as he waited for the water to cool.

"So…" Dan dropped Rufus, who immediately shot into the living room, intent on getting as far away from Herbert West as possible. Animals, Dan reflected, could be very wise indeed, often more so than most people, including himself. "You worked with Dr. Gruber, huh?"

Herbert did not look up. "How gratifying to know you have ears." He flicked his fingers through the steady stream coming from the tap, sending a spray of droplets across the kitchen cabinets and his own starched white shirt.

"Er… yeah." Feeling monumentally inadequate, Dan stuffed his hands into his pockets and leaned against the doorframe in an effort to disguise his embarrassment. "So, he was a pretty big deal, wasn't he? Did you learn a lot from him?"

"Enough." For a fleeting moment, Herbert looked humbled as he stared off into space. He sighed, and the noise was almost wistful; it made Dan feel as if he was intruding upon a very private moment. He shifted uncomfortably and coughed.

"So… what happened?" Herbert twitched.

"What?" He blinked owlishly at Dan from behind the large frames of his eyeglasses. Dan shrugged.

"Well… he died more than half a year ago, didn't he? So what were you doing before you came here?" Herbert shook his head once, sharply, and a lock of hair fell across his forehead. Dan bit his lip. "I mean… if it's not too… personal. You know."

"Oh, no. No." The corner of West's mouth twitched up slightly as his voice dripped with withering sarcasm that made Dan's shoulders hunch. "Of course not. Why shouldn't you know, after all? If we are going to be… friends." He paused and Dan mentally reassured himself that he did not want to be, in any way, Herbert West's friend. "After the authorities in Zurich found me crouched over Dr. Gruber's violently convulsing body holding an empty syringe, they threw me into one of their prisons." Casually, he held the glass under the tap and watched as it filled. "Have you ever been in a European jail, Daniel?" He nodded with an air of resignation when Dan shook his head. "Well, I don't recommend it. The stains on the sheets were, indeed, very disgusting, but it was the violent anal rape that really put me off ever going back." He took a dainty sip of water and Dan watched, somewhat stunned, as the smooth, white column of his throat shifted with his swallows. "After a hellish five nights there, I was transferred to a psychiatric care unit in the US for approximately four months of 'observation' as dictated by the consensus of the courts in both countries. Not exactly the step up you might expect. You'd be surprised at the amount of liberties some medical officials feel they can take with their more mentally disabled patients…" Herbert trailed off and his eyes flickered over the floor tiles; Dan could see the muscles in his arms tightening and releasing as he steadily throttled the half-full glass he still held.

"Are you serious?" Dan whispered after Herbert's words had settled into his consciousness and arranged themselves into coherence. "Did that really happen? Did you…?" Abruptly, Herbert's head snapped up and he caught Dan's eye. He smiled amicably, but the sentiment never reached his pale eyes which seemed uncharacteristically dark and penetrating in the dim light. With exaggerated care, he placed his unfinished glass of water in the sink and moved to the kitchen door where Dan fumbled slightly to move out of the way, his bemusement more than evident to Herbert's sharp stare. Long pale fingers curled around his forearm, gripping him firmly through his sweater to secure him. Dan held his breath as Herbert raised himself up onto his toes and shifted slightly forward so that his mouth was level with the whorl of Dan's ear.

"Wouldn't you like to know," he whispered huskily, his low voice rich with self-satisfaction. Dan felt a slight tickle as Herbert's dry lips brushed over the flesh of his cheek. He closed his eyes, awaiting the worst, and when the world did not end in the following tense seconds, he opened them to find Herbert staring guilelessly up at him. He looked young and blank and empty. "'It is true, it is certain; man though dead retains, Part of himself: the immortal mind remains.'" Dan tipped his head to one side, silently questioning. "Alexander Pope," Herbert explained. "You will understand. Someday." With that, he released Dan's arm and brushed airily past him, down to the basement. He closed the door behind him.

Absently, Dan rubbed the arm Herbert had used to steady himself. After a moment of quiet, Rufus sidled cautiously up to him and began to rub against Dan's legs in a bid for reassurance. "He sure is a weird one," Dan mumbled to himself, ignoring his cat's thin meows. "_Christ_."


End file.
